Ad Astra Per Aspera
by musicnotes093
Summary: "It seemed like it was just yesterday that he met her, under one of the worst circumstances at that. Still, the memory, and all the subsequent ones, brought a smile to his face, for that one moment changed his life. 'Okay,' he finally told his daughter. 'I'll tell you our story.'" Post-Lab Rats. [Written for Stardust16's contest.]
1. i

**Title:** _"_ _Ad Astra Per Aspera"_

 **Rating:** T

 **Genre:** family, romance

 **Character(s):** Adam and two OCs as main, but almost everybody gets a mention

 **Pairing(s):** Adam/OC

 **Summary:** "It seemed like it was just yesterday that he met her, under one of the worst circumstances at that. Still, the memory, and all the subsequent ones, brought a smile to his face, for that one moment changed his life. 'Okay,' he finally told his daughter. 'I'll tell you our story.'" Post-Lab Rats. [Written for Stardust16's contest.]

 **Notes:** As noted, this is written for Stardust16's contest. (If you guys can, submit an entry! It's pretty fun. Just write an Adam/OC story, and you're in.) Regarding this little number, it features an OC that some may be familiar with. She's still the same, only she's placed in the 'default' universe with Adam. This is not connected at all to the story she was last in.

 _Ad astra per aspera_ is a Latin phrase meaning 'to the stars through difficulties.'

Hope you guys enjoy. :)

 **TW:** _some sensitive moments (potential emotional triggers), mentions of blood and torture, tackles racism and death_

* * *

At thirty-four, Adam was finding it difficult to process how much age was beginning to catch up to him. Just ten years ago, he felt as if he was going to be invincible forever. He thought he would never feel the same aches and pains that his parents and his uncle had complained about. Backaches and knees that cracked loudly whenever he stood up sounded so impossible. Those wouldn't happen to him. Those couldn't touch him.

Now, as he did the simple task of perusing the small collection of storybooks stashed within his seven year-old daughter's princess bookshelf, he could feel all of those things, and then some.

Young people's idea of eternal invincibility. It just didn't connect with reality.

Given, he did have a long day today. There was a mission at the shipping docks that suddenly came up while they were in the middle of training. Saving the workers and lifting and tossing quite a number of industrial materials in the process sapped some of his strength. What really took a toll was what had to be done at the company. Of course a truckload of paperwork would have to be dealt with right after he came back from a mission. It was so tedious that he had to resist the urge to repeatedly hit his head on his desk until he passed out.

However, he still felt like he should have more energy than what he had now. His brain told him he could do more. He felt like he should be able to, at least. Yet, his body said no. After leaving his daughter's room, his bed would be his next and final stop for the day.

He frowned at one of the thinner storybooks on the shelf. Pulling it out, he stared at the artwork on the cover and wondered if it was something he had read to her this week. Unable to recall, he looked at his daughter to ask.

Immediately, he was answered by a shake of the head. "Not that, Daddy. I've heard that story so many times."

"Okay," Adam said patiently, putting the book back where it belonged. He skimmed through the titles printed on the spines of the other books. "How about…The Ugly Duckling?"

"Monday night."

"Little Red Riding Hood?"

"Tuesday Night."

"Ferdinand the Bull?"

Her face scrunched up into an indecisive expression, but from it he could tell that she didn't favor that option.

"Karina, you're going to have to give Daddy an answer here," he kindly prompted.

"I'm sorry, Daddy. It's just that I've heard all of those stories," the seven year-old said.

Adam got up, sighing. "Okay," he said. "Maybe we could borrow something from your brother's collection. What about that new one that he got two weeks ago? The Little Engine That Could…Do…Something." He frowned.

Karina chuckled.

Adam looked at her then grinned. "Alright, alright," he said. "So do you want me to get that?"

She shook her head. "No, I read that to Leo a lot. That's his favorite. I know it already," she said with a smile.

"Yeah. You do." He ran a hand through his hair as he thought. Reading to his children every night was always a good idea, until times like this come when there was nothing to read to them. He kinda wished Chase had bought Karina books instead of that chemistry kit. Then again, the girl had been coaxing her uncles (and even her Aunt Bree) for it for the longest.

He shrugged, surrendering. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but other than what we have there's nothing else," he said.

The little girl's shoulders sagged. "Okay."

"We'll see if we can buy some more this weekend for you, okay?" Adam said, walking over to her bed then taking a seat by her. He smiled.

She nodded though still disheartened.

He hugged her then gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "How was school today?" he asked.

"It was okay. Christie said she's going to watch the new Barbie movie this weekend with Kat and Lindsay."

"Do you want to go?"

She shook her head. "No, I wasn't invited. Christie just tells me her plans. It's only her friends who can come," she said factually.

Though saddened by her exclusion, he only said, "Well, you can always see if Aunt Kira would like to go with you."

Karina shook her head again. "No. I don't feel like it anyways. It's not really my kind of movie," she said.

He nodded with a smile, happy that she was not hurt. "You know, speaking of, if G-Mom and Pop-pop take you and Kira shopping tomorrow, maybe you can ask them to buy new books for you," he suggested.

"I guess I can," she said. Her brows furrowed and her head tilted before asking, "Is Leo coming with me tomorrow to G-Mom and Pop-pop's house?"

"No. He's gonna be with Grandpa Robin and Grandma Elyse."

"Is he gonna stay there the whole weekend?"

"No."

"Oh."

He saw a spark of insecurity in her eyes, and he knew it was because she was thinking that while she was away, her little brother would get to spend more time with their parents – again. Since his son was born two years ago, he had learned that telling her not to be jealous was counterproductive; it only made her more jealous. The wisest way to diffuse it, as he and his wife had come to understand, was to assure her. So with a smile, he said, "Sunday he will be staying over at Uncle Chase and Aunt Sam's house. He's not coming back until Monday afternoon, until after Mommy picks you up from school."

She nodded as if only mildly interested, but he knew that having alone time with her parents in those two days made her happy.

Karina withdrew to her own thoughts for a brief moment before inquiring, "Daddy? How long have Pop-pop and G-Mom been married?"

Adam tried to do the math in his head, but soon enough he got lost. He was too tired to count. "For a few years now," he answered instead.

"Like, fifty years?"

"No, sweetheart. Not fifty," Adam said, unable to help himself from chuckling. "Um, take Aunt Kira's age then add, oh, maybe three or four years to it."

"So…about fifteen or sixteen years then?"

He nodded. "Yeah," he said, the grin on his face slowly weakening to a sad smile.

Not noticing it, Karina only continued. "What about you and Mommy? How long have you been married?"

That number, he could do. "Eight years," he answered easily.

"Oh! So my age plus one!"

"Yup."

She grinned, proud to have made that connection. In curiosity, she looked up at her father then asked, "How did you and Mommy meet?"

Adam chuckled, caught off-guard by that. "Oh, it's a very long story," he said.

Karina's eyes lit up. She wiggled into a comfortable position, pulled her fleece blanket up a little more, and then waited eagerly for her father.

Seeing the grin on her face, Adam frowned. When he understood, he laughed. "You want me to tell you how we met?" he asked.

"Please, Daddy?" the seven year-old girl said.

"Sweetheart, it's not as interesting as you think it is."

"Then make it interesting."

"Like, how – Once Upon A Time interesting or Comic Book interesting?"

"Hmm…I want it Real Life interesting," she said.

Adam pored over it. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand and decided his wife wouldn't be home for a few more hours. She said she was asked to stay a little later at the firm to finish a few things before she was free to go for the weekend. That would give him and Karina an opportunity to go through the story from beginning to end – hopefully.

As he sorted through his memory bank, the narrative of how he and his wife came to be slowly emerged. He didn't think it had been that long. Twelve years. It seemed like it was just yesterday that he met her, under one of the worst circumstances at that. Still, the memory, and all the subsequent ones, brought a smile to his face, for that one moment changed his life. "Okay," he finally told his daughter. "I'll tell you our story."

"Yay," she cheered.

He grinned. "Okay, okay." After he had gotten comfortable, he began. "Well, I guess there's no better place to start than that day when I, and Uncle Leo and Uncle Daniel, were chasing this one bad robot person…"


	2. ii

Out of all the times he had been hurt before, this has got to be the worst. The destructive A.I that another one of those deranged scientists bent on ending the bionic race made had left him for dead after attacking him. He wished he had really been dead, actually. At least it wouldn't hurt this horribly. He was sure he had broken several bones in his body. The pain throbbing from his right leg was so searing and blinding that he believed he had passed out multiple times because of it.

He hoped he could still walk after this, if he survived it.

There was also the wet sensation that pooled around him as he lied face up on the ground. He convinced himself that it was just water. It had rained a few days ago, so he probably just landed in one of the puddles riddling that alley. More than likely it was not blood. Hopefully.

Leo and Daniel had been sent there to deal with the A.I with him, and he trusted that they were already running after the psychotic robot wherever it was. The eighteen year-old and the fourteen year-old had done so much growing the past few months after Bree and Chase left, and he was confident that they could handle the situation without him.

He hissed when a piercing sensation jabbed from somewhere in his rib cage.

His breakfast of chili fries and jellybeans threatened to make a reappearance. _I wonder if it'll taste as delicious again,_ he thought as he fought to stay awake.

One of the backdoors leading into an apartment building was warily pushed open, but he didn't notice it; he was concentrating too hard in keeping his breathing stable to be able to. That was why it surprised him when someone came to his side. "Hey. Hi there. Can you hear me?" a young woman, around the same age as he was, asked gently.

He labored to turn his head then open his eyes. His vision was somewhat hazy, but soon enough a clearer picture came to him. The person beside him was dark-skinned and had striking features. She smiled at him when she realized he was trying to recognize her. From her eyes, he could see worry for him and fear for herself for being out there where it may not be safe.

"Ayanna," another young woman called to her anxiously. "Come on, we can't stay out here. What if that thing that just left comes back?"

The girl called Ayanna only glanced at her briefly before turning her attention back to him. She pulled out the compress and bath towel that was tucked between her elbow and hip before telling him, "I've just called 911 to get help for you. They're on their way. I have cold compress here and a towel. I think you sprained your leg. We're gonna need to put the compress on it and elevate it so it wouldn't swell too bad, okay? Will that be alright with you?"

He winced as he tried to reposition himself. Breathing heavily, he asked, "Is – is it going to hurt?"

She nodded. "A lot. But it might help it feel better," she said.

He nodded albeit reluctantly. He lied back down and closed his eyes. "Okay. Okay."

It took much from him not to scream out even when she only gently elevated his leg so she could slide the rolled up towel underneath. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said, placing the compress quickly to the injured part of his knee. The cold helped, but not as much as he'd liked. "There. You're set."

"Thanks," he managed to croak out.

"No problem."

"Ayanna…"

"Just go back inside, Dani. I'll stay here with him," Ayanna said.

"And what, leave you out here on your own?"

Ayanna rolled her eyes. "It's not like you're gonna do anything about it," she said.

"It's not like you can! Didn't you see what that, whatever that was, did to him? If it left him like that, what chance do you think we have?"

He winced—and it wasn't just because of the broken bones this time.

Ayanna shook her head. From a distance, they could hear sirens. She nodded at him. "So which one are you?" she asked.

"Which one of what?" he asked, his breath slightly hitching after every second syllable.

"The bionic kids. Which one are you?"

He tried to grin, but it may have looked like a grimace. "The tall,…handsome one," he said.

She smirked. "I didn't know being egotistic was a bionic ability," she said. "I just meant your name. I hear Adam, Chase, and Leo but can never remember who's who. Well, besides Leo. Him, I know." She then smiled at the thought that came to her mind.

He began wondering what the expression on her face was for when they heard the ambulance pull in, the louder wail of the siren announcing its presence. As doors of the vehicle opened in the distance, he looked at her. "'m Adam," he said.

The girl nodded with a smile, and it was then he noticed that she was wearing a hoodie with a logo of one of the universities nearby. "Nice to meet you, Adam," she said. "I'm Ayanna. Ayanna Wilson."

After the paramedics whisked him away, he slowly forgot about her. Even after his father and uncle came to the hospital to transport him back to the lab where they could give him the care he needed, the short conversation between him and the girl continued to sit in oblivion. It wasn't until a few days into his recovery that the memory of her face and her name reemerged.

Ayanna Wilson, the brave college girl who came out there just to help him.

He owed her his gratitude.

 **-X-**

"So did you fall in love with Mommy then?" Karina asked excitedly.

Adam chuckled. "No. Actually, I didn't," he answered honestly.

"Aw. Why?"

Adam grinned. He didn't think it wise to tell his daughter that it was because her mother said he had a big head that day. So, he just said, "I just didn't, sweetheart. I doubt Mommy liked Daddy very much that first time either."

"You hated each other?"

"No. We just didn't like each other the way you think we should have," he said. "Plus, I was in a pretty bad shape. Daddy didn't look as handsome."

The seven year-old grinned. "Were you at least friends?" she asked a moment later.

Adam thought about it. "We were two people that knew of each other at one point in time," he answered.

"Kinda like me and the twins that I met at the playground two weeks ago?"

He nodded. "Exactly."

"Okay." Then, "Which of Mommy's friends were there when you first met her?"

"Friends?"

"Yes. You said she was trying to get Mommy to come back in."

"Oh. Yeah, it's Dani. Danica. She was your Mom's best friend in college."

"Have I met her?"

"Yes, but I don't think you'll remember her. She moved away with her husband when you were three."

"Oh, okay." She looked back up at her father afterwards then waited patiently.

He stared at her blankly. "What."

"What happened next?"

"What happened next where?"

"With you and Mommy," Karina said with a laugh.

"Oh, that was it. That was how we met," he said.

"Then what happened? I wanna know the whole story," she said.

"You want me to tell you the whole thing?"

Karina nodded.

"It's gonna be a very long one," he said.

"It's okay. I like listening to you," she said.

Adam saw the eagerness in his daughter's eyes and had to smile. More and more the little girl was becoming alike to her mother. He took a deep breath. "Alright," he said. "What do you want me to tell you next?"

"Umm, what about the second time you met? From there."

"Alright. Second time it is then," he said.

 **-X-**

It wasn't for another eight months until he saw her again. Like the first time, their meeting was unexpected. He and Leo had been sent by their father to do a tour around the country to visit the different headquarters that the students had been assigned to, and that day they happened to be back in the same city where he had been seriously incapacitated. It didn't even register to him that he was in that same place until much later on, when he thought about what happened that led to that second time.

On their way to Centium City after visiting the base in New York, they stopped by a nearby coffee shop to get breakfast. They were still fatigued even after having rested well the night before, so charging up with food sounded like a really good idea before they take off for their last stop. The long wait at the line was terribly unbearable, especially for him. The morning crowd only kept growing, and his appetite was getting more impatient than the cranky, un-caffeinated masses surrounding them.

Thankfully, he had his younger brother to distract him with idle chatter. If he hadn't, he would've pulled his hair out half an hour ago.

"Should we really be dropping by without telling them we're coming?" Leo asked him. "I don't think we're even supposed to know about this, _them_ , yet."

He shrugged. "Too late now. We already paid for the plane tickets," he said, looking around the shop to see how many more people would be served before they get their orders.

"I guess you're right." Leo then grinned mischievously. "I wonder how much trouble we'd get into for reading that classified file."

"We? You were the one who hacked into Mr. Davenport's system."

"Accidentally."

It was then that he caught a glimpse of her. She was sitting at a table by the floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing studiously at the laptop opened in front of her. Across from her was a guy, talking about something she was barely listening to. Unlike the first time, she was dressed in a printed white shirt, a cardigan and dark jeans. _What's her name again?_ he thought.

Leo said something, but he didn't really hear it.

What did she say her name was again? Maya? No. Naya? No. Anna? Sounded right but didn't at the same time.

What _is_ her name?

Leo asked him something. Thinking it was about their order, he just answered, "Three blueberry donuts and two bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches."

Leo stared at him with a deadpan look. "I asked when Douglas will come back to the island. Three blueberry donuts and two bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches. Okay."

"Oh, uh, sorry. I thought you were asking what I wanted," he said, turning his attention back to his brother.

Leo frowned. Seeing the slightly glazed look in his eyes, he searched around the room. "What were you looking at anyways?" he asked. When he found her, the curiosity was replaced with a smirk. "Really, Adam? Scoping out cute girls this early?"

"No, no, I—I just know her," he said. That memory from the alley replayed in his mind. "I've met her before."

"You have?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I have."

As his name was called, Leo got up. "Well, maybe you can say hi to her and her boyfriend on our way out," he said before going to the counter for their order.

He looked back to where the girl and the guy sat. It didn't seem like they were together. At least to him they didn't. He watched them closer to see why he had gotten that impression, and soon enough, he saw it: she wasn't studying what was on her laptop, she was intentionally just staring at the screen. Her eyes were glued to one particular spot and hadn't moved. She was pretending like she was busy with something. And she wasn't only half-listening to what the guy across her was saying, she was blatantly ignoring it.

He was right. They weren't together. In fact, she didn't even look like she knew him.

Acting on impulse, he got up then walked towards the two of them. He smiled just as the guy started suggesting to her that they 'hang out sometime.' "Excuse me, sir, but would you like to take a quick survey?" he asked.

Both of them looked up at him, the guy in annoyance and the girl in relief. The guy eyed him from head to toe. "Take a quick survey with what?" he asked.

He realized then that he had nothing to write with and on. Quickly searching around, he found a napkin and a pen at the table behind him. "Hey!" the girl sitting there exclaimed.

"On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate the service in this shop?" he asked, borrowed pen at the ready.

The guy stared at him, unamused. "Zero."

He scoffed, grinning. "I agree with that. They took nearly forever with our order," he said, writing zero down.

The guy frowned at him. He turned to the girl then asked, "Who is this clown?"

The girl chuckled nervously as she stood up. "I'm sorry. He tends to be really silly," she said, taking hold of the bionic's arm.

"You know him?"

"Yes. This is Adam," she said with a warm smile. "Adam, this is…I'm sorry, what's your name again?"

The guy stood up, crossed. "Tom," he said. "And who is he to you exactly, your friend?"

"Her boyfriend."

The three of them looked at Leo as he joined them. "And you are?" the guy asked.

"The stepbrother," Leo said.

The guy looked at them one by one, and it was evident he realized that his chances in getting her number had gone very far down the drain. He scoffed. "Whatever. Nobody wants her anyway," he muttered, glaring at her as he walked by.

The three of them watched him leave, the brothers with mild interest, and the girl with a waning smile. Leo took a hearty sip of his tea before telling her encouragingly, "He's just mad because he couldn't get with you. If it helps, I think you're one of the prettiest girls in here."

She smirked. "Are you hitting on me?" she asked.

He tried to hold his hands up in surrender. "Just complimenting, not flirting," he said. "Plus, I have a feeling I'm not your type."

She scrunched her nose. "Too young."

Leo's brows just quirked, his way of saying, 'See? I know.' Then, he began to investigate the contents of their takeaway bag.

He was returning the pen to the now intrigued owner when she finally spoke to him. "Thanks for helping me. He was really bothering me, and I didn't really know how to get away without abandoning the coffees I ordered."

He shrugged. "Not a problem," he said. He narrowed his eyes. "Um, tell me your name again."

She grinned. "Ayanna. A-Y-A, double N, A."

"Okay. Ayanna." After a pause, he admitted, "Yeah, I'm not the best speller, but I should remember your name."

She chuckled.

"So, you live around here."

She nodded. "For now."

"Why just for now? You don't want to stay?"

"No."

"Really? I would've loved to live here. You're just about half an hour away from the store that had giant candy bars on top."

She grinned. "You mean the Hershey's Chocolate World in New York City?"

"Is that what it's called? I wasn't really paying attention. There was so much candy and chocolate there, and some of them were spinning."

"So you have a sweet tooth, huh?"

He frowned. Did he?

"I meant you like sweet stuff," she explained patiently and with a warm smile.

"Oh. Oh, yeah, I do," he said, nodding.

"Nice. Me, too," she said. Then, with a shadow of sadness in her eyes, she added, "But I can't stay here. School's getting too expensive. I need to go back home and finish up my studies there."

"Home?"

"California. I live in Pasadena."

"No way! My parents and my stepsister live close by there."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"What about you? You live close by, too?"

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "I live on the ocean."

She chuckled, but he could tell she was thinking that he was messing with her. "Well, okay, Adam who lives on the ocean," she said after her name was called out. "Maybe one day we'll run up to each other again."

"Yeah. Maybe."

After that, she took her order, packed up her things, and then left, waving goodbye to both him and Leo on her way out.

 _Maybe one day we'll run up to each other again._

He smiled. He was definitely hopeful.


	3. iii

"So you fell in love with her then?" Karina excitedly asked.

A smirk crept up Adam's face. He had to hold back a grin. "No. But after that I definitely started thinking about her more and more."

 **-X-**

"What do we have for lunch? I'm starving."

"I'm sorry, honey. I didn't cook anything. I'm wiped."

"That's okay. Maybe we can just eat out."

"I vote for Dixie's Burgers," he said, sitting up on the couch and keeping his eyes on Kira. He held his sister carefully as she bounced up and down while standing on his knees. "They have one in Pasadena we can go to. I'll drive."

Behind him, his parents exchanged glances. "They have one ten minutes away from here, too," his father said.

"I know, but we haven't been to the one in Pasadena."

"Sweetie, that's farther away," his stepmother kindly pointed out. "Plus, Dixie's Burgers can get too packed. Your sister's just gonna get antsy with that many people."

He didn't say anything, only watched Kira examine the new shoes on her feet.

He was really hoping they'd say okay this time.

His father chuckled. "Adam, what's with you and wanting stuff from Pasadena lately?" he asked. "Your brother told me you've been asking him to come there with you for lots of different stuff."

"Leo told you?" he asked, feeling betrayed.

"No, Daniel." His father quirked his brows. "Why? Does Leo have something to tell us?"

He got up from the couch then shrugged. He walked over to his father's desk at the corner then handed Kira to him. "Nope. No, sir, he does not," he said easily. Oblivious to the puzzled expressions on his parent's faces, he grabbed his phone from the counter, his wallet from the guest room, and then proceeded to the garage where he fished out his keys from the small bowl by the door.

Pulling out of the garage, he dialed Leo's number. _"Yo,"_ his brother answered.

"I'm grabbing something to eat. You wanna come?"

 _"_ _Uh, yeah. Sure. Where?"_

"Dixie's."

 _"_ _Okay. I'm a few minutes away from Downtown. I'll—"_

"No, no. Not there. Meet me at the one in Pasadena."

There was a pause. Then, a chuckle. _"Man, you really got it bad, don't you?"_

"Got what bad?"

 _"_ _Look, there's no shame in admitting that you like Ayanna. In fact, I'll even help you look for her,"_ Leo said.

In the months – the year now, really – that Bree and Chase had been gone, Leo had become the one who knew and could read him very well. Sometimes the fact that his stepbrother could see through his fib irritated him very much. "Where are you anyways?" he asked instead.

 _"_ _Uh, just some place."_

 _Just where place? You've barely been home for the past month,_ he wanted to say, but his brother immediately redirected the conversation to a new comic book store near the restaurant. That was all it took to distract him.

The two of them combed through the city to see if she was anywhere. They were there for hours, but unfortunately their search bore no fruit. They even went to the universities and colleges around and nearby. By nightfall, though, they gave up.

He didn't know why Ayanna had that effect on him. He had liked other girls before, but none of them had created the insatiable feeling of having to see them or talk to them again. Not that they weren't pretty or interesting, but there was just something about Ayanna that was different. He guessed it was because she helped him, and maybe he felt like he still owed her. It could be too that there was a certain honesty in her eyes and sharpness to her brain, yet she remained humble and sweet. That could be it.

It didn't hurt that she was cute.

No. Cute was for younger girls. Though Ayanna was fresh out of her teenage years, she carried herself proudly as a young woman. Cute didn't really suit her.

She was attractive, then.

No. Attractive sounded too… _just on the outside_. Though she was definitely a looker, the person she was inside made her much more. She was funny and smart and caring.

She was a gem, one of the rarest, and maybe that was really what he was looking for in summarizing her. He was not an expert in geology (or was it geometry?), but he knew people pay lots of money for stones that were formed well by time and pressure and which were cut well and glimmered in the sun.

Ayanna was like those. She was exceptional, and maybe that was why he wanted to see her again. He wanted to know what truly made her very special.

 **-X-**

He really didn't want to be one of those creeps who look up the social media page of a person they like, but he had to admit: it was very, very tempting. The hyperlink was blinking in and out of the search tab, waiting for him to type her name. Did he really want to do this? He was not one to be shy in crossing a few lines, especially if it wouldn't hurt anybody, but he felt like spying on her would be breaking her trust.

He sighed. He turned off his phone then put it away.

Patience. It wasn't his favorite thing in the world, but if he really wanted to do this right he was gonna have to adjust his preference.

 **-X-**

He finally found her a few weeks later. Or, better yet, they finally ran up to each other.

He was in desperate need of ice cream that hot summer day and so had decided to stop by somewhere to get some. Seeing the big crowd congesting his favorite gelato place, he opted to pick up something from the small grocery store a few blocks down instead. He was stacking up a number of mini ice cream cups into his basket when someone said, "That bad of a day, huh?"

He stopped then looked up. He smiled when he saw her and another girl smiling at him. _Hey! I've been looking for you,_ he thought, but it didn't sound like it would be proper to say. He hoped he didn't say that out loud. Sometimes the filter between his thinking and his talking malfunctions.

She didn't react, so that must mean it worked. _Good. That's good._

"Do you remember who I am?" she asked patiently.

"Oh! Of course! Yeah. Yeah, I know you." He shook his head, chuckling. "I'm sorry. I spaced out. I was just thinking about…something."

"It's okay," she said with a small grin. Turning to her friend, she said, "I don't think you really got to meet her, Adam, but this is Dani. Dani, Adam. She was out there with me at the back alley."

 _The terrified friend._ Adam held out a hand. "Hey, nice to meet you again. Adam," he said.

Dani shook his hand. "Nice to see you again, too," she said. She shot her friend a knowing glance afterward.

"So are you both out for ice cream, too?" he casually asked. "The gelato place is a madhouse."

"No. Just out to get some grocery for my dad." She nodded at his basket. "Is that for your family?"

"Uh, well, no. It's all for me. I couldn't choose, so I took all of them."

She laughed. "I like the way you think."

He smiled. That was the first time he had heard that, and it felt nice. "Are you back here in Cali, now? I mean, are you still staying by where you go to school, or…?"

She smiled, and she told him years down the line that it was because it touched her that he remembered the details of their conversation from their second meeting. "Yes, I'm back. I came home about three weeks ago, actually."

He nodded. So that was why they couldn't find her.

After a pause in the conversation, she decided to go. "Nice seeing you again, Adam. Hopefully we'll see each other again sometime soon," she said before walking away.

Honestly, he didn't want to wait for another time. It took weeks for him to see her again, and he didn't want to wait again. He had been told before that he thought in simple terms, which was not a compliment by any means, but he didn't think simplicity hurt him at that moment. From where he stood, there were only three facts to consider: he liked her, he wanted to ask her out, and he may not have another chance if he let her go now.

So, even if his heart was banging on his chest as if it was a drum and his stomach felt hollow, he called after her. When she and her friend turned around, he said, "Do – do you like ice cream?"

Though confused, she said, "Yes. Why?"

He shrugged. His heartbeat sped up. "I was wondering if, you know, you'd like to get one with me when the shop is not so busy," he said.

The smile on her face slowly fell.

The music stopped.

A warm smile came to her face, but it was obvious to him that it was half forced. "Adam, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I can't. It's not you. You're kind and very sweet, but I'm just not ready to go on dates right now," she said. "I'm sorry."

Despite the great collapse within him, he managed to shake his head, smiling at her understandingly. "It's okay. Don't worry," he said.

She left then, and he could tell that she was truly apologetic.

The rejection consumed him so much that he was too distracted to pay attention to anything else. That was why it surprised him when the cashier at the checkout handed him a folded piece of paper and told him that a girl told her to give it to him. _It really isn't you,_ the note said. Then, _DM me: daniONEkenobi._

He logged on that night and followed her. He waited anxiously for her to follow back. Ten minutes later, he received a notification telling him that that she did.

From the messages they exchanged, he learned that he wasn't turned down because she didn't like him. Dani said that her best friend liked him quite a lot. Without revealing anything, though, she did agree that dating was 'not a good idea for her right now.' _The best thing you can shoot for is being her friend,_ she had suggested.

 _You think she'd be okay with me trying to be a friend after I just failed in asking her out?_ he asked.

 _LOL You didn't fail. You just got put on hold._

 _Like friendzoned?_

 _Yeah._

 _That's a good thing, right?_

She sent a thumb's up emoji.

He was still doubtful. _Will she really be okay being friends with me?_

 _Not positive, but you can always try and see :)_

That thought made him nervous again. Maybe not as much as asking her out earlier did, but it still had his stomach in knots.

After two nights of debating, he took on the challenge. The worst that could happen was that he would be kept waiting until he was tired of waiting, right? So, he logged back on and followed her. He waited for three full hours for a message saying that she had accepted, but it never came. He gave up soon after and decided to just go to sleep and stop hoping.

He nearly shattered his phone the next morning when he saw she followed him back.


	4. iv

After months and months of spending time with her, he came to find out that he didn't mind just being her friend. Not that he had lost interest in going on a date with her, but he just wasn't in a hurry. He continued to learn more things about her, about who she really was. The lessons came in at a patient pace, and he enjoyed it.

He liked seeing how smart she really was. Her brain was as fast as an arrow shot from a bow, and her tongue was as sharp as a dagger. It came with the territory of being a Law student. Yet, she wasn't arrogant. She was very confident, but it was warranted since that, too, was needed in a courtroom.

He liked knowing how funny she could be. He heard it said once that being humorous was an evidence of a person's intelligence, so he wasn't very surprised with this. Still, he liked the fact that she was often careful not to cross the very fine line between wit and sarcasm, between being hilarious and being hurtful. She didn't sacrifice a part of her humanity just for a laugh, and from this, he would admit, he had been trying to learn from.

However, what had turned out to be his favorite was her kindness. Granted, she was far from perfect, just like he and, well, all humans. She had days when her intelligence would blind her to the need for humility and when she would say something flippant to cover over her frustrations, but in the end she did her best never to forget the importance of a sincere apology.

She was mindful of her family, her friends, and the people around her. He knew now how much she cared for her fifty-three year old father. She always checked on him to make sure he was okay out of the appreciation she had for him staying with her and bravely raising her alone even after her mother suddenly left them. That warmth was also extended to her friends, especially her closest ones which were Dani and her cousin Alexa.

These facets of her, just her intelligence, humor, and kindness alone, made it both easy and difficult not to fall harder for her at times.

Nonetheless, he respected the distance she needed. She said she needed to focus with her schooling, and he told her that he supported that. Dani also once told him in secret that her mother's departure when she was young had scared her into thinking that somebody she loved would leave her suddenly someday, too. He didn't tell her anything about that, but he kept it in mind.

Plus, he also had quite a number of things going on that needed his attention. Just two weeks ago, he was given the option to be reassigned to an HQ with Daniel or to remain partners with Leo. It was a no-brainer. It was like getting asked whether he wanted to be in the field or to be a travelling pencil-pusher, so of course he chose to go down to Louisiana with Daniel and be a part of their team.

Leo seemed hurt, but he trusted that his stepbrother would be okay eventually. Surely their father would give him better work now that he was alone. And, out of all of them, he was the best in adapting to situations thrown his way. He would be fine.

Louisiana was surprisingly very warm when he got there. It was certainly not what he was expecting on a late December day, but prior to coming there he didn't even know there were more than two states in between California and New York so he really couldn't complain.

He just wished he didn't have to be so far from her. They still kept in touch (he and Dani did, too), but it was still different than being with her in person.

Three days after he arrived, he finally admitted that he missed her.

 **-X-**

"Ow."

"Sorry."

"It's okay." Leo looked at Douglas and his stepfather as his older brother helped him out of the capsule. "So what's the verdict?"

Douglas shook his head curtly as he stared at the x-ray image. "Still bad," he said. "I don't know how you managed to do this, but the wirings are all out of whack."

An earthquake announced the arrival of spring in California months later. It inflicted damages and injured many, but thankfully none were hurt fatally due to the quick thinking of the two teams assigned in and near the state. The aftermath required more teams to come and help, and that was how he ended up back there with Daniel, Bob, and three other bionics. The rescue mission took tremendous effort. It spanned for a few days, and unfortunately a few of them did get hurt, too.

Leo was the one who had the worse injuries from the rescuers. During an aftershock, a huge slab of concrete nearly collapsed on him while he was trying to save a couple that was trapped in an underground garage. He was able to stop it because of his ability, but the piece was too heavy that bones in his shoulder and upper arm fractured.

Even so, with the help of a team of firemen, he was able to get the couple to safety. He was going to push himself further, try to save others, but thankfully one of the volunteers involved with giving medical help was able to force him to tend to his wounds first.

It was Ayanna. She showed Leo that she was more stubborn and more persistent than he and thus managed to get him to accept the help he direly needed.

For many reasons, Adam was happy to see her. It had been a long while since they saw each other in person, and having her there, both of them working alongside each other in essence, was one of the best things ever. He had numerous opportunities to catch up with her, and because of her concern for his stepbrother he saw her many times. She and Dani had visited twice already, and the family, grateful for what she had done for their loved one and what she was still doing for others, happily welcomed them.

Seeing his stepmother and father and Daniel and Douglas interact so well with her kinda made him giddy with excitement. His family liking the woman that he (still) secretly liked was a good thing in his book.

It had been two weeks since the earthquake, and nearly everything had been squared away. Daniel, Bob, and the others had gone back to Louisiana last night. He didn't go back with them just yet because he still wanted to make sure Leo was going to be okay. A few stray wires from his bionic arm had, for some strange reason, managed to tangle themselves around two important veins connected to the twenty year-old's heart.

At twenty-three, he still didn't know much about science, nor did he care for too many details, but he knew just as well as everybody did that those wires meant bad news.

"Well, can you fix it?" Leo asked his step-uncle.

"It's not that easy," their father said. "We're gonna need to consult with experts about this. We don't wanna mess with it and make it much worse."

"Oh. What about going on missions?"

"No," Douglas said. "You need to stay away from situations where you would be required to use your bionics."

"What? Why?"

"Those wires could really hurt you." Their father exchanged a worried glance with their uncle before he added, "Actually, your bionics are deactivated until further notice."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. _What?_ "

"I'm sorry, Leo, but this is the only way we can keep you safe. Activating your bionics can stop your heart."

Leo stared speechlessly, aghast.

"How do we know it would?" Adam asked in an attempt to help his stepbrother.

"We just do, Adam," his father said patiently.

"Don't – don't I have a say in this?" Leo finally spoke. "These are my abilities we're talking about, my plans for the future that's about to get disrupted. I even have a new ability I was going to try out."

"What new ability? I didn't give you a new one," Douglas said.

Leo's features cleared of the frown. "You didn't. Just made a new one from an existing one," he muttered guiltily.

Douglas frowned.

"I'm sorry, Leo, but it's gonna have to wait," their father said, walking towards the other cyberdesk.

"But—"

"This is for your own safety," he insisted. "Please. You have to understand."

Leo mumbled something.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Leo shook his head. "Nothing. I'm going upstairs to rest," he said then headed to the elevator.

Adam followed his stepbrother, concerned.

 _How many more things do I have to understand?_ were the words his younger brother said under his breath. He sounded so lonely and broken. It definitely wasn't nothing.

On their way up the elevator, Leo sighed. He smiled, but it was obviously forced. "So when are you going back to Shreveport?" he asked.

He shrugged. "Don't know. I might stick around for a bit," he said.

Leo smirked. "Because of Ayanna."

 _Because of you, actually,_ he thought, but he didn't say. "How have you been?" he asked instead.

Leo narrowed his eyes. "Didn't you ask me that the night you came back?"

"I meant since our team was dissolved. Since I left six months ago," he said. "Were you ever reassigned?"

Leo looked away. A small smile came to his face, but like the question he had tried to whisper, it, too, was forlorn and out of hurt.

He was set to press for an answer when the elevator opened up. "Oh! There he is," his stepmother exclaimed as she got up from the couch. Walking farther in, he saw Ayanna sitting with her and Kira on the couch.

"Hey," she said with a smile.

He smiled. "Hey."

"I'll leave you two to talk. It's time for Kira's nap," his stepmother said before picking up the little girl then hurrying up the stairs.

"Are you off your shift?" he asked once they were alone.

"Yeah. I just finished, actually. I was on my way home and decided to make one last stop."

"Oh. Where?"

She chuckled. "Here, Adam."

"Oh."

"How's Leo doing?"

"Um…" He turned around to search for his brother, who was just standing behind him. Gone. He was nowhere in sight. "He was just here," he said with a frown.

"That's okay. Is he feeling much better, though?"

He remembered the broken smile on his younger brother's face. "I don't know," he said honestly.

Sensing that she had come across something sensitive, she didn't push. Instead, she just said, "Tell him I said I hope he feels better." Then, with a grin, "And that Nurse Terrible is watching him."

He laughed. "Okay."

She nodded. Her grin waned down to a smile. "I know he's probably getting annoyed that a person he's not that good friends with is always bothering him, but I'm just worried. I just want him to know that I care about him like a big sister," she said. "You can tell him that, too."

He blinked, and he knew there was something he was missing. "Alright."

The conversation lapsed into a pause. Then, she smiled coyly and spoke again. "I…wanna ask you something," she said.

"Is it gonna be hard?"

She grinned knowingly. "It could be," she said. "Uh, first: are you going back to Louisiana soon?"

He shook his head. "No."

She nodded. "That's great." She hesitated for a moment. After taking a breath, she finally braved to say, "I was wondering: do you still like ice cream?"

"Uh-huh. I love ice cream."

"No, no. I guess what I wanna ask is, would you still like to get some ice cream with me? You know, at the shop downtown." She smiled. "It's open again, but there are not a lot of people."

It took him a while to understand what she was really saying. When it all added up, he gaped at her, surprised.

"I mean, you know, only if you're still free to—"

"Yes! No, yeah. Definitely. Let's – let's go," he said, desperate not to lose his chance.

She grinned. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. We'll buy everything, it would be awesome," he said excitedly. "Will tonight be too soon? At 7?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Cool, cool." Inside his chest, the drumbeat, live and loudly and thrilling, played again.

He hoped the music would never stop.

 **-X-**

For the next three months, it didn't.

 **-X-**

Karina grinned. "So Mommy asked you out?" she asked, deeply enamored by the story.

Adam shrugged, smiling. "Mm-hm." With a grin he added, "But Mommy might not remember it that way."

"Man. You and Mommy's story is much better than the fairytale princess stories you've read to me."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." The seven year-old looked up at him. "Did you and Mommy live happily ever after then?"

Memories of what happened next weighed down his smile. He looked at his daughter, taking in the innocence in her eyes, and he realized that he would rather her be aware of the truth than be in bliss yet in ignorance. He smoothed back her curly hair, and then said, "Happily ever afters only exist in fairytales, baby. True love is not just one kiss, and everything after is perfect. True love, sometimes, means fighting with or fighting for the person you love but finding a way to stay together anyways even if it's hard because you care about that person. Do you understand what Daddy means?"

"I think so," Karina said thoughtfully. She leaned back. "Love means dealing with many dragons."

Adam nodded. "Love means dealing with many dragons," he confirmed.

 **-X-**

The first dragon slinked in subtly but shook them up once it came to the picture. Both of them were happily dating when one of her aunts, Therese, began introducing her to another guy. They thought at first that the older woman just didn't know, and so he was introduced to her as her boyfriend, but from the disdainful look that was given to him as a response it became clear that the matchmaking was on purpose.

After a few weeks, she found out that her aunt didn't favor their being together for one reason: she was black, and he was white.

Until that moment, that hadn't been an issue to them. He never really thought about their relationship in that term. He had only had his father and stepmother as his guidance of what loving another person should be, and color had never been a factor to them. Then again, he lived in a basement for seventeen years of his life. Maybe it was just one of those 'outside world' things that he had never gotten around to learning.

But then she told him that she, too, didn't look at their relationship that way. Even her father and her new stepmother were very supportive of the two of them, in fact. It seemed like it was only a problem to those outside her immediate family.

Despite her parents sticking up for the two of them, he knew it was still hard on her. Dani had revealed to him in private that Therese insisted that her niece date the man she had picked for her instead, and when her niece wouldn't budge it created considerable friction in the family. It affected Ayanna, especially because Alexa, her cousin, was forced not to speak to her unless she broke up with him.

Ever the determined young woman he knew her to be, she stood with her decision. Still, once in a while the disappointment and sadness she felt from the rest of her family shunning away the man she liked would show in her eyes.

It warmed his heart that she was willing to fight for him, but it also made him feel guilty that she had to go through a battle that didn't seem like she would win anytime soon.


	5. v

The second dragon arose months later after a new enemy kidnapped her to get their team to do what he wanted. Rescuing her, thankfully, wasn't terribly difficult, and though she was shaken up, she turned out to be okay. However, that was enough to raise concern, especially with one of the people who were on their side.

Her father was reminded of how much trouble her daughter would be in by just being around the bionic humans. That hazard only magnified tenfold since she was dating one who had, has, and would have bad people keeping their eyes on him closely, always keen to find his pressure points in case he acted way too out of the line that they draw. His daughter reasoned that trouble would always be there. Around the man that she greatly cared about or not, danger always lurked in the corner because bad people existed.

Her father understood her point, but he still didn't agree with it wholeheartedly.

Though they didn't receive opposition from him, Adam could tell that it still weighed on her. Her father was one of the very few she cared about the most, and to see him worried about her every time she left to be with the younger man gradually took away her happiness.

It frustrated her, too. During one of their first fights, she accidentally told him how much it hurt her that no one in her family cared what she felt when she had done her best to show all of them how much she loved and supported them. "It's not fair," she said, breaking down in tears after she misunderstood one of his actions and thought that, like the others, he didn't care about her either.

As he took her into his arms and apologized, as sobs racked her whole being, it came to him how he was breaking her life apart by just being in it.

 **-X-**

Frustrated by how powerless he was, he decided to turn to someone for help. Since his father was usually tired because Kira had reached the age of being active and learning what throwing tantrums could afford her, and since Douglas didn't seem like a comfortable option, he talked to someone whose superior intelligence, he decided, might get him the solution he needed.

After explaining everything to Chase over the phone, his younger brother said something that was so unthinkable but was admittedly reasonable and kinder to Ayanna. _"I know it's not the advice you want to hear, but it may be the best solution,"_ Chase said regretfully. _"It'd be kind of hard to strengthen your relationship with you being in Shreveport most of the time while she's in Pasadena."_

"We've been able to make it work," he reasoned, but it didn't sound convincing even to him.

 _"_ _Yes. For now. You have to admit, Adam, that physical distance kinda takes away from you two being close – and I don't mean by distance close."_ He then added, _"And most of her family is not okay with you. It's great that you guys are willing to stay together, but what's gonna happen if you get married? That's too much tension to carry. It might really affect you both."_

"Look, I know Ayanna and I have a lot of problems to deal with, alright? Everybody is saying it's not good, we shouldn't be together. I know I'm ruining her life because I'm with her."

 _"_ _I'm not saying that, Adam. I would never agree to what other people say against you two. You both are happy, you're not hurting anyone, and I know she's what you need. I want you two to be together."_

"That's not what I'm hearing."

 _"_ _No, believe me. I do. I want you both to be happy. But the fact is that you didn't call me for my opinion about you and Ayanna, you called me to ask what's the best thing you could do for her."_ Chase sighed. _"I'm not saying you should break up with her forever, but the time apart might help you in the long run. The steam will pass over time, and maybe when you get back together some time down the line, her family would have a better understanding of your relationship. It would be easier then. Plus, you're just twenty-four, Adam, and she's just twenty-three. You two are still young. Maybe you can resume dating when you two are older and more mature. By then, you'd be better suited in fighting for each other."_

He didn't like the suggestion any better even after the solid reasoning. Just imagining saying goodbye to the one who made him look forward to what the future held and who had made him believe that he was much better than what others and even he himself had given him credit for was already tearing him apart. He couldn't do it. He adored her too much.

Still, one truth stood out: he cared about her. He would do almost anything to make sure she was happy.

It was then he realized that that might just mean letting go of her.

 **-X-**

The weight of having to decide burdened him so heavily for the next several days that others around him began to notice. Daniel and Bob, now both sixteen, had asked him about his gloomy attitude to see if they could help. Even Douglas commented on his unusual silence. Though he trusted them, he didn't tell them anything.

It was a matter that he had to figure out by himself.

However, it wasn't long until another advice was offered to him – and this time, though it was unsolicited, it offered him comfort while still being reasonable.

Without a long discussion and even telling him she knew what was on his mind, his stepmother addressed his concerns and made a simple yet profound statement.

 _You can't tell someone who loves you not to sacrifice for you. It's like saying no to a person giving you the gift you want,_ she said. _Turning down a gift like that is a lose-lose situation for both of you._

 **-X-**

The third dragon came soon after, and this time it went after him before he could prepare for it.

It came as a shock. Everything appeared to be going so well with his family. They were gathering together that spring weekend to celebrate his father and stepmother's seventh year anniversary. Everyone was there – Douglas, Bree, Chase, Daniel, Kira. Even Leo, who most of them only saw rarely throughout the year, came. It was going to be a nice dinner.

He should have known better. That things looked fine didn't mean they were.

It started off so well. They all had their own conversations, catching up with one another as they waited for the food. For him, it was nice seeing all of his younger siblings together again. It had been a while since the last time all of them were present at the mansion. Nearly two years, if he counted right.

The situation took place after everyone had eaten and had gone back to lounging and talking. Actually, he stumbled upon it. He went to the library to ask his parents a question after he was told they would be there. When he came in, the tension between his parents and Leo was highly evident. His stepmother appeared frightened and worried, while his father looked upset.

Gone was the joy in his stepbrother's eyes. At that moment, there were only hurt and disappointment. "You told me you would be able to fix it," he said to his stepfather. "You said you would."

"I did, but not in this situation," his stepfather said firmly.

"What situation?"

His stepfather took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. "I know what you've been up to these past few years, Leo," he said. "I know what you had been doing."

"Okay? What does it have to do with having my bionics fixed?"

"It has everything to do with it." He scoffed. "A covert agency? Are you kidding? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I'm still in training. It won't even be for a few years until I'm assigned to a team!"

"Well, that's never gonna happen. If you think we're gonna reactivate your bionics, you're sadly mistaken. I'm not gonna let you go out there."

"I'm not asking for permission, I'm asking for help."

Their father shook his head. "You're not getting either."

Leo stared at him, taken aback by the cold response. Subsequently, the hurt in his eyes turned to anger. "Oh, I see. What I want is not valid unless it's in line with everyone's plans. I can't even get what's messed up inside me straightened out unless I get the approval of the whole family. But if it had been Kira or Chase in my position, you would've bent over backwards to do what they ask immediately."

"Don't drag them into this."

"Why? Because it's true? Because out of all the kids they are the most important?"

"Honey, you know that's not true," his mother said almost pleadingly.

"It is," he said, anger turning back to hurt on that brief moment he looked at her. "I'm sorry, Mom. I know you're doing your best to balance everything between me and Kira, but I can't pretend I'm okay with this anymore. I'm always the last. I'm always the one waiting. I'm always the one left behind. Why is that? I'm as good as they are."

"It's because you make the worse decisions," his stepfather said.

"Right," Leo said snidely. "Because out of all your children, I'm the one who can't do anything right."

"You're not my child."

It felt as if all air had been sucked out of the room. The fire in his stepbrother's eyes died, and all that was left was the great shadow of everything the past few years had left broken within him.

"Donald," his stepmother said in shock and hurt, and through this his father quickly realized the consequences of his words.

Leo, however, heard and saw none of these. He took a breath then smiled a fractured smile. He nodded. "Okay," he said acceptingly. "Now I know where I stand." Then, he walked out.

His stepmother followed after him, but not without a disappointed look at her husband.

Once it was just the two of them, him outside and his father inside the library, his father finally acknowledged his presence. "He'll be back," his father said, both as a reassurance to him and to himself.

But Leo didn't. After that day, he never came back.

 **-X-**

Adam didn't tell his daughter that the dragons won. Though they didn't take the war, they did succeed that battle. They were able to make him believe that he was only hurting the woman he loved by staying with her. They also had him accept the lie that he hadn't been a good friend to his brother, and that was why he was moved to leave them. If he couldn't be a good friend to him, how could he be a good friend to her?

So, underneath a starry night that last spring day, he told her that they couldn't be together anymore.

He guessed he didn't want Karina to know this, not yet, because he didn't want her to think that since her parents lost once, it could happen to her, too. He wanted her to conquer the challenges that would come her way confidently, knowing she had the strength to.

Maybe one day, she would know, when her mother tells her.

What was important anyways was what happened next, for it was those things that led both he and his wife to the life they had today.


	6. vi

The months following their separation had been made up of some of the hardest days in his life. He missed her terribly, and he was finding it very difficult to focus. All he could think about was her and the tears in her eyes when she told him, to his surprise, that she understood. It was obvious that neither of them wanted to let go of the other, but it had been a hard year, and it was the only option.

Several times he would catch himself picking up the phone to call, just to ask what she was doing and how she was, only to remember what they had mutually decided. The feelings of longing for someone he couldn't have would accumulate so much that he would be moved to talk to someone, _anyone_ , but the ones around him didn't seem like they would understand. They were all occupied with matters of their own lives. Not only that, but conversations between the family lately had become strained.

Leo still hadn't come home, neither had he made any contact with anyone. After he left the night of the anniversary dinner, no one had seen him. When their parents went to the apartment he stayed at in Santa Barbara, they found that the place was wiped clean of his clothes and most important belongings, almost as clean as his now emptied-out savings accounts.

There were mixed feelings about what happened. For his part, he only wanted to know how his younger brother was doing. He understood his frustration and his need to be away. He was not against it, but he did want the assurance that he was okay, wherever he was.

The opportunity was given to him one night when he received a call from a private number. Thinking it was either someone calling for help or Bob calling from a different phone to ask again what food he wanted for takeout, he answered.

 _"_ _Adam Charles Davenport, how are you doing?"_

"Leo?"

 _"_ _The one and only."_

"Where have you been? Everybody's been looking for you!"

 _"_ _Oh. Huh."_

"What do you mean? Look—where are you?"

 _"_ _Just some place."_

"Some place? Some place near?"

He chuckled. _"Nope. Not even close."_ Then, _"Listen, Adam, I can't stay too long and talk. I just want to let you know I'm fine and alive. I may not be able to call often, but I will when I can. That is, if you're okay with that."_

"Of course I'm okay with it. I wanna know you're safe." He hesitated before worriedly asking, "Are you safe?"

 _"_ _Yep. It's kinda great here where I am, actually."_

"Tasha and Mr. Davenport had been looking for you."

There was a pause. Then he said, _"There's no use. I don't want to be found."_

"Are you still mad at us?"

 _"_ _I'm not mad at you, Adam."_

"What about the others?"

He sighed. _"That's a little too complicated to talk about right now, man."_

"I'm really sorry. I should've been a better friend to you. Shouldn't've left."

 _"_ _Well, I can't really blame you. You were offered a way out. Being HQ inspectors was getting very boring, and if I had the chance I would've jumped ship, too."_

He chuckled.

 _"_ _By the way, how's your little lady doing? I thought about you guys yesterday."_

With that, the grin on his features faltered. "We're not together anymore."

 _"_ _What? And why not?"_

"It was the best thing to do."

 _"_ _Best thing how?"_

"It was getting really hard on her because of her family."

 _"_ _I thought she didn't mind?"_

"Yeah, but I couldn't just let her keep suffering."

 _"_ _And what's your reason for breaking it off?"_

"It's for the best."

 _"_ _That's an opinion, big brother, not a reason."_

He huffed. "Like I said, I couldn't just let her suffer."

 _"_ _You know, you keep saying you can't 'let' her do anything. Ayanna's a grown person, man. She has the right to decide what she wants and go through whatever she needs to go through to get that. She loves you, and it's obvious to me that you love her, too."_ He thought for a moment before asking carefully, _"Did you break up with her because you like someone else?"_

"No. Of course not."

 _"_ _Okay. Then why?"_

"Because when you left, when I heard you say the things you told Mr. Davenport, I realized that I can still be so dumb when it comes to what other people feel," he blurted out. "I couldn't be a good friend to you. I hurt you because I was being selfish. I don't want to do that to her. I don't want to be selfish and stay with her when it's obvious that it's hurting her."

Another pause. _"You can't turn me into a reason, Adam,"_ his younger brother said kindly. _"The decision I made to leave was not your fault. It's the result of many other things, many other decisions, good and bad, that many other people made. Don't base your future on this one thing."_

"Future?"

 _"_ _I've seen the way you look at her. That's not the I'm-only-dating-you-for-fun look."_

He smirked. "And what look exactly is it?"

Though he couldn't see him, he knew his younger brother smirked, too. _"Like you don't know,"_ he said. After that, he said that he had to go but eventually he would call again.

After they hung up, it dawned on him that their conversation was just what he needed. In that brief call, his brother was able to bring to his attention what he had been ignoring these past few weeks as well as help him arrive at what truly was the best option.

He went to sleep that night excited again for the next day. He was going to call her and tell her he made a mistake. He would tell her that he was ready to fight as hard as he did for the two of them. He adored her, loved her, way too much to be able to survive being apart. To make sure it would be a good time, he texted Dani, asking how her best friend was and letting her know that he regretted what he had done and was ready to correct it.

His heart shattered the next day when Dani texted him back, telling him that Ayanna was seeing someone else.

 **-X-**

"What happened after you and Mommy defeated the dragons?"

Shaken out of his thoughts, Adam could only stare at his daughter.

"Did you finally end up together?" Karina asked.

A small smile pulled at his lips. "Eventually."

She took a deep breath and leaned further back on the pillows, and it let her father know that she was getting sleepy. "When you and Mommy were dating, did you going on missions ever become a problem?"

"Hm…No. Not that I know of," Adam said. "Why? Do you think it's a problem?"

"No."

"Are you sure? You're not just saying that because you don't want to hurt my feelings, right? Because you know, you can tell me if you think I spend too much time away from you and Mommy and Leo."

"No, you're okay, Daddy. I understand you and Mommy have to work in the mornings so you can get what me and Leo need. But you spend time with us when you're at home." She smiled up at him. "I really like it when you read to me and Leo. Sometimes you make it funny."

Adam grinned. He hugged his daughter closer to him then gave her a kiss on the forehead out of deep appreciation. "What did I do to deserve a smart, sweet, and pretty little girl like you?" he asked.

"You still hadn't finished the story yet," Karina prompted, chuckling.

"I haven't? I thought I did."

"No," she said, laughing.

"Alright. What part was I in?"

"After the dragons. We're almost at the happily ever after, I think. Or, no, what's close to it."

Adam nodded, remembering now the part he left off. "Okay," he said, and then continued the story at months after his heart was broken, that summer he wouldn't forget.

 **-X-**

A mission-gone-wrong landed him in a jungle in South America, fending for himself and desperately trying to stay alive for about two weeks. He and his team had been sent to recover sensitive information from a criminal kingpin, and a recon job that they thought would be easy enough turned out to be a trap. The man was ready for them. He was separated from Bob and Jeanne. Initially, he had done well in fighting off their mark's henchmen, but once a cheap version of a chip extractor was brought into the picture, everything went downhill.

He woke up hours later in a place he didn't know, his abilities gone and with barely any supply to survive with.

Quite honestly, nobody knew how he managed to make it. Even he had no idea how it happened, and he was the one who went through it. The jungle was unforgivingly hot by day and lethal by night. He had brief flashes of those few days, like finding a source of potable water and eating from trees and bushes that other animals ate from (a trick that he vaguely remembered hearing from a teacher years ago in Mission Creek High). He also briefly recalled sleeping in a rock hollow or up in a tree, his fear of the animals nighttime brought out gripping him tighter than the python he once came across.

Then, there were also those moments when he would look up at the sky, watch the celestial spread above him, and think about her. He wondered if she had seen the same moon and same stars, if she thought of him as he was thinking of her. He loved her still, very much so, that just imagining her smile at him would give him hope and break his heart all at once: give him hope in that it pushed him to do his best to keep living, and break his heart because each night might be the last night he would be alive, which meant he would never get to hold her hand again.

Just as when he was at the cusp of surrendering to death, someone came to save him. Leo had brought two other people with him, a man and a woman that were, at most, ten years older than him. He didn't recognize them, and his stepbrother would tell him later on that he didn't have to anyways. The only fact that mattered was that they were friends of his, and they were there to get him back home and get him the help he needed.

Days after he was rescued, he found himself in a makeshift room in a clinic at Santiago, Panama, hooked to IVs that helped him combat the dehydration he suffered from. When he asked, Leo explained to him that he heard about the mission that went bust, and when it became evident that the rest of the family were having no successes in finding him, he jumped in to do a search of his own, enlisting the help of the friends he had made at the agency.

Yes, Bob and Jeanne were safe; they made it out the night of the recon. Yes, their parents would be alerted once he had regained enough strength to travel back home with them.

No, he wasn't going to wait until they come.

"It's been months, Leo. When are you going to give them a chance to make it up to you?" he had asked.

Embers of disappointment, though only glowing faintly now, were still in his eyes. "Maybe one day. Just not right now," he said. "I need to be on my own for a while."

When he reasoned that he needed to come back to get the wires untangled from his heart at least, his brother said nothing, but there was a shadow of something suspicious that passed by his eyes. Something…guilty.

Before he could ask, a visitor came in. He must've looked really shocked because Leo appeared very pleased with how his 'surprise' for his brother turned out. After they exchanged polite greetings, the youngest of the three decided to leave the room.

"How are you doing?" she had asked him, smiling the kind of smile he had been constantly wishing to see again.

"I'm – I'm fine. How, how are you?" he stuttered, because he still couldn't believe that after months, she was with him again.

"I'm okay."

Seeing her uncomfortableness, he looked around, found a chair nearby his cot and then offered, "Oh. Um, here. You can sit down there."

Thankfully, she took the seat, placing the small bag she had on top of the table. "I went to the store on the way here. Leo told me what had happened when he called, and I figured you might appreciate something to snack on. I got bottles of Gatorade, a box of donuts, gummy bears, granola bars. I also put some fruits in there. You need it," she said.

"Thanks."

She only nodded.

"Was getting here difficult?"

"Well, no, not really. Your brother had given me a head's up a week ago, so I was able to prepare ahead of time."

"Was your dad okay with you coming down here?"

She nodded again. "When he heard what happened, he was worried about you, too. After I got the call, he let me go." When he said nothing, she continued, "I think my dad realized what the things you do really mean. You're helping people, you put your life on the line for them. He understands now that trying to talk me out of being with you had been wrong. He knows you're a good man, and he said he wished he hadn't had been against you."

A small smile came to his face. "What about the rest of your family?"

"Elyse hadn't changed her mind about you. You know she adores you." She chuckled. "In fact, she said hi."

He grinned lightly, but it was short lived. "Still no with the rest, huh."

She shook her head. "I don't care anymore," she said. "I've come to realize to that I just need to stand up for myself. I can't let other people run all over me. If I do, then I have no business trying to be a lawyer. I love my family. I will do what I can for them, but it can't just be about them all the time." She shrugged. "They have to love me enough, too, to understand why I make the choices I make."

"Great," he said, though he knew that it was all too late for him. She was standing up for another man now. "Your guy will be fortunate to have someone like you."

Her brows furrowed. "My guy?"

"Yeah. Dani told me months ago that you're dating someone else. That's great. I'm – I'm happy for you," he lied.

She grinned. "That girl. I can't believe she told you about Jay," she said.

He smiled though it was tearing him apart.

It was then that she asked with a smirk, "What else do you know about him?"

"Nothing much, just that he's the guy your Aunt Therese had been wanting you to go out with." _Instead of me._

"Yes. You did know we didn't last, right?"

That surprised him. "You didn't?"

"No. Jay and I had nothing in common. We went out twice, and then that was it. I didn't like him, and I don't think he cared much for me, either," she said. After a sigh, she added, "She introduced me to another guy, Deron. He was a nice guy, but both of us were in love with other people. He admitted that he only went out with me as a favor for his mother. There was a girl he really liked, and he said he knows she's the one. I told him that it was ironic because I only went out with him to make my aunt happy and that there was this guy I really, really like."

"You do?"

She nodded, smiling warmly at him.

"Who is it?" he asked.

She laughed. "Adam, it's you!" she said. "I'm still in love with you."

He only stared at her blankly. He wasn't very sure if what he heard was real or if it was just the result of the medicine being given to him.

At his reaction, her face slowly fell. "I'm…too late, aren't I?"

"No, no! I—I just wasn't sure if I heard you right," he said. He scratched his head, the IV on the pole slightly dangling at the movement. "I hadn't had food for a while before this, so I gotta make sure I'm not just imagining things. My first night out of the jungle I thought I was in Bikini Bottom."

She laughed again. "Well, it's all real. What I told you? It's true," she said. She hitched a shoulder. "If you're still interested, I wanna try again to see where this goes."

He gazed at her, smiling. That was all he had wanted to hear. "Yeah," he said. "I wanna try that, too."

For the first time in a long time, he felt strong and undefeatable once again.

 **-X-**

By summer, it was obvious to him that there would be no one else he'd rather spend the rest of his days with other than her. She was the one he wanted to wake up to every morning, the one he wanted to build a home with. She was the one he wanted by his side when a mission gets too rough and he ends up being on bedrest, and she was the one he wanted to be there for as she reached for her dreams. He couldn't imagine living life without her.

So, he proposed in front of their favorite candy shop, with a simple rose gold diamond ring and an influent speech. He messed up really bad, he knew, but somehow, someway, she said yes.

Yes. She would marry him.

That became one of the happiest moments in his life.


	7. vii

"You asked Mommy to marry you at a candy store?"

"Yup."

"That is so cool!"

Adam chuckled. "Yeah, I think so, too," he said.

"Is it the one close to where Grandpa Robin lives?"

"Yes, actually. Mommy was helping me pick out what to get for Aunt Bree and Uncle Chase when I visit them. She didn't know I was going to ask her the question right there," he said.

"That's awesome. I'll ask Grandpa and Grandma to take me there when I come visit."

"You should. They have great caramel and fudge there. Maybe you can get some for you and your brother."

"Okay," she said. She tilted her head inquisitively. "So, you got married after that, right? No more dragons?"

"No. No more problems at that time. Your mom and I got married December of that year. December 12, 2020."

"Was it a big wedding?"

"No. It's pretty small actually. Besides a few of our friends, Grandpa Robin, Grandma Elyse, Pop-pop, G-Mom, and then your aunt and uncles, that was it. In fact…" He took out his phone from his pocket then pulled up the wedding picture that had them and their families. Showing it to her, he continued, "These make up most of the people at our wedding. Dani is Mommy's maid of honor, and Bob is the best man. That just means they're our closest friends, the ones that had helped us throughout." He pointed to the picture of his wife, beaming and breathtaking in her elegant white dress. He smiled. "See Mommy? Isn't she beautiful?"

Karina nodded. "She is. She looks like a princess," she said as she stared bright-eyed at her mother's photograph. She looked at the faces of everyone there. Soon, she was moved to ask, "Why did you pick Bob as your best man?"

"'Cause he's a good friend of mine," he responded. He frowned. "Why do you ask?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. It's just that since you met Mommy, the person who had been with you a lot is Uncle Leo," she said.

 _Smart girl,_ he thought with a smile. "I really wanted him to be there," he explained. "I did ask him to be my best man, but he said he couldn't come."

"Why not?"

 _Because he said he knows him being there would only create problems for us._ It was the honest answer, but he withheld it. "He couldn't do it," he said instead.

"Oh, is that why he's not at the wedding?"

A knowing smile came to his face when he recalled what his younger brother told him months after the wedding. "He's in there, somewhere. We just couldn't see him," he said.

"Okay," she said. Her brows furrowed a moment later as she hesitated about something. Finally, she spoke. "Do you miss him?"

Sadness dimmed his smile as the memory of his brother weighed down his heart. "There's not a single day I don't," he said.

"I see his pictures in Pop-pop and G-Mom's house. Uncle Chase and Aunt Bree have some, too, the ones with all four of you," Karina said. She smiled. "Mommy told me that he was really funny."

Adam nodded. "He was. You and your brother would have loved him," he said. _And he would have loved you both, too._

"Did he get to meet me?"

"He knew of you," Adam agreed. Recalling the events of that night, he said, "He did what he could to save your mom and I and you. He cared about the three of us very much. That's why Daddy owes him a lot."

 **-X-**

What was supposed to be a dinner between the three of them became one of the most nightmarish nights of his and his wife's lives. Armed men had stormed into the restaurant, first taking his wife then forcing him and his brother to come along with them. They didn't have time to call for help nor were they able to afterwards. The only hope they had of getting backup was that of people calling in to tell the authorities what happened. Though that wasn't a guarantee that their family and teams would be alerted, it was the best that they had.

The abandoned cement factory was as cold and dark-cored as the men who had taken them. He tried to recall who they were as they shackled him and his brother together in one of the rooms, but nothing came to him. He attempted to break out of the chains, but for some reason his abilities wouldn't activate. It occurred to him then that, like the man from the recon mission almost a year ago, these men had been prepared. They had a failsafe in place to make sure their plans wouldn't go bust.

He demanded to see his wife, but they only gave him somber stares. The only person to speak sneered. No, he can't see his wife. Not unless he gives them the information they wanted.

Information for what?, he had asked.

No, not you. That thief beside you.

He looked at his brother, wondering what the man meant by that. The man told them that their boss would come see them soon. Meanwhile they should get cozy for a bit; tomorrow would be a long day. On his way out, he tapped a metallic cart with different tools then shot them a predatory grin before leaving with the others.

He swallowed hard when they were gone. Something told him that it was not going to be used either on him or his brother. "What does he mean, Leo? Why did he call you a thief?" he asked.

Leo looked away. "Because, in a way, I am," he admitted quietly.

"What?"

"I was helping out with an ops a few months ago. They were digging for information to bring down these…lovely people and to stop them from carrying out a massive cyberattack," Leo said. He shook his head before adding, "They were able to capture most of the members, but they couldn't find the guy behind the whole thing. So we dug for things we can use to lure him out. We found out that he's working along with this hacker. He paid him to create the master key to set everything in motion. We intercepted it, but the file was locked up, protected like nobody's business. So one of the agency's top computer geek and I worked together to open it up.

"We were close to cracking it when the guy I was working with vanished. The team thinks he received a threat, got spooked then fled. It's been a while; he hasn't been found yet. That's not good, because that means I may be the only one now who knows what the code is."

Adam stared, blinked. "What did you just get yourself into?" he asked angrily.

"I can't just let them have it, okay? Many people will die," Leo said.

"No, I mean this! These things that you do. Is this what you've been training for? A job that puts you into situations like this?"

"This is the same as what you do, Adam!" his brother reasoned. Calmly and quietly he added, "The only difference between us is that with me and my team? Everything's more real. There are no bionics, no abilities we can use to complete the ops. Just what we're given with. Those are the only things we have."

"Then, why don't you just come back home?" he asked sympathetically. "To us? I'm sure you can get things straightened out with Mr. Davenport. I'll make sure to talk to him about being placed back in a team with you. Chase is doing something else now, but maybe you, me and Bree can team-up again. It will be like old times."

Leo smiled, but it was riddled with pain. "There's nothing more in the world I would like than for that to happen, but, it's too late, Adam," he said. He looked down at the cold floor they were sitting on. "These are not the kind of men that let their prisoners live."

The hopelessness in his brother's face terrified him, not because he worried for his life but for the life of his wife. "What do you – what do you mean?"

A long moment passed before someone spoke again. Leo's chuckle broke the silence, but there was something dark and final about it that scared Adam more. "I was there during your wedding, you know," he said. "I was outside the gallery. Everyone looked super nice. I saw Chase's girlfriend, too. She's so pretty. Kira has grown so much. Daniel's gotten taller. You and Ayanna looked great. You two looked like those couples in the wedding pictures that you get when you buy those picture frames."

"Stop it, Leo. We're gonna make it out here alive," he said firmly. After that, he started looking for ways to escape, starting with a means to free themselves from the chains that bound them.

Leo only glanced at him with a small smile. "Do you remember the first day I met you guys? You, Bree, and Chase were fighting over that music player, and I was hiding behind the barrels. How long has it been? Nine years, right?"

"Leo, shut up. You need to help me find a way to get out of this."

"It seems like it was just yesterday. To me, anyways," Leo continued. He looked at his brother with a smirk. "Now you're married, and you're about to have your first kid."

He stopped struggling then. He swiveled towards him with a frown. "What?"

Leo scoffed a laugh. "C'mon, man. Don't tell me you didn't notice," he said. "Ayanna's highly sensitive with smells. She's sick every morning. Physically, she's a little different, and her cravings are as wild as yours. Your wife is pregnant, Adam."

Everything stopped then. Pregnant? _Ayanna_ was pregnant? He was going to be a father? As he realized that all of what his brother said was true, a protective instinct washed over him, causing him to magnify his efforts to escape. He couldn't let his wife get hurt. He couldn't let the baby get hurt, not if he could help it. "We need to get out of here," he said desperately. "We can't let them touch Ayanna."

"They won't." When he looked up, Leo assured him, "You, Ayanna, and your baby will make it out of here safely."

He opened his mouth to say that he would make it out, too, all four of them, when the sound of a car pulling in at the lot outside took his attention. Soon after, it was followed by the clanks of the gates to the factory opening, words spoken and low voices trailing it.

"Can you do one thing for me?" Leo asked, his voice slightly breaking. "Can you tell Mom and Big D that I'm sorry? Tell them I'm sorry for leaving and never coming back. Tell them I don't hate them. The things that happened to me was not their fault."

The footsteps outside were getting closer.

Leo looked at him, tears of both fear and courage glazing his eyes. He smiled. "I'm glad that I met all of you. I'm glad that I had you as my friend. It's been a roller ride." He nodded. "I hope one day your kids would get to experience crazy, fun things like we did. Make sure they do."

The door to their room suddenly swung open, and in came a man that Leo easily recognized. The man said nothing, only stared and smiled a cold smile at them both before nodding to one of the people behind him to take the younger of the two.

Adam fought hard against the restraints, even against the men that held him down, but it was to no avail.

"Take care of them," Leo asked of him as the men took him away. Soon, the door was slammed shut behind them.

Those were the last words he heard from his brother.

He woke up the next morning due to the piercing chill pressing on his skin and the soft sobs ringing from a distance. Looking around, he saw that, with the exception of him, everything was frozen. Ice clung to the walls, the ceilings, the pillars that held the building. The chains that held him in place. The men that were assigned to guard him, their skins were pallid and solidified with frost.

He shivered as he gazed upon their faces, his breath fogging as he breathed out.

Dead. They were all dead.

He yanked the chain wrapped around his wrist, and it severed in half. He got up, stumbling slightly because of the glazed floors and because of his shaking, and then made his way out to the source of the sobs.

The sight of the room where he found his wife was much more curious and terrifying than the one he just left. The ice was thicker, and more bodies were rigid and unmoving. One of those was of the man's who had come into the room last night, the mastermind of the whole operation. Like his men, he was gone, too.

Turning his eyes on her, he saw that his wife was on her knees, slouched over as her shoulders hitched while she cried. He took a step but halted when he noticed another person lying immobile on the floor.

He was face down, head slightly turned to the side. His right hand was outstretched, while his left was on his side, slightly tucked under him. Under the fingertips of his right lied the fringes of the sheet of ice covering the whole room, the entire factory. There were no rise and falls at where his lungs were.

 _You, Ayanna, and your baby will make it out of here safely._

"No. No," he said, his voice coming out hoarse. He rushed to his side then turned him around. "Leo. Leo! Wake up! What did you do?"

He lifted him up to check his heartbeat, hoping it was there.

Nothing. All rhythm had stopped a long time ago.

He hugged him tightly. His brother was still somewhat warm, but even that was starting to leave him, too. "No," he said, tears spilling as he realized his little brother was gone. "What did you do?"

They found out at the memorial a week later that Leo had managed to find a way around the block put by his uncle and stepfather. His teammates said that the 'kid' was determined not to use his abilities unless it was absolutely necessary. "Actually, Hunter, our team leader, was finding a way to get everything fixed for him," Ariadne Baxter, a good friend of his brother's from the agency, one of the people who came with him to the jungle, informed them. "We were trying to talk him into getting it taken out. He was smart; he didn't really need those abilities in the field. But he said he'd keep it for the meantime, in case he gets into a situation where he needs to make a way out."

After investigating, Douglas somberly told them that Leo had used energy transference to absorb the heat from everything and almost everyone in the cement plant that night. The extent of this put a strain the damaged system in his arm, and subsequently the wires wrapped around his heart constricted it until it stopped.

The night after they spread Leo's ashes at his favorite place, Adam and Ayanna stayed up, holding each other as they sorrowed over the friend and the brother they had lost. Adam never stopped thinking about him, especially when his daughter arrived six months later, wailing with a lungful of breath, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

 _Take care of them,_ Leo's words rang from the back of his head as he held his daughter close.

He smiled. _I will,_ he promised his brother. _I will take care of them._

 **-X-**

Adam smiled at his seven year-old. "Do you know why we named you Karina?" he asked her.

"Mm-hm," she responded with a smile. "Mommy said that Karina means 'lovely' in Italian."

"That's right," he said. "Listen to your mother. She's a very smart woman."

"Mommy said I should listen to you, too." Karina smiled up at him with sleepy eyes. "She said you're smart, too."

A shy smile pulled at his lips. "Well, that's very nice of her to say," he noted.

Karina yawned. "Did you name my baby brother after Uncle Leo because of what he did for us?" she asked.

Adam nodded. He smiled wider when he recalled the day his son was born, when he told his wife that he wanted to name him after his brother and she wholeheartedly said okay. "It's also our way of saying that he's never forgotten, and that I'll always remember the promise I made to him," he said. He then added, "But you know, Karina and Leo? They're names of something else too."

"What?"

"Constellations. Stars."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Mm-hm."

"That's cool," Karina said blearily. Then, she leaned back further into her pillows.

Adam chuckled. He stood up. "It seems like you're ready to go to sleep," he observed.

The seven year-old mustered a groggy smile. "Thank you for the story, Daddy. That's my favoritest one now," she said.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," Adam said. He walked out of the room, and then turned off the light. The glow in the dark stars stuck on the ceiling painted with the colors of the Milky Way lit up. "I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast."

No response came, only soft snoring.

Adam grinned. After making sure his daughter was sound asleep, he gently pulled her door close, leaving it slightly ajar in case she woke up in the middle of the night. He started to head towards the next room to check on his son when footfalls ascending the stairs, then the guardrails unlocking then locking back in, caught his attention.

Soon after, Ayanna appeared from the corner, garbed with the sharp professional clothing she always wore to the firm. She was evidently tired but very happy to be home. "Hey, baby," she said, smiling at him.

"Hey. How's work?"

She rolled her eyes as she made her way towards him. She stood on tiptoes then gave him a quick kiss. "Glad it's the weekend," she said. She peeked into her daughter's room before asking, "Kari's asleep?"

"Just fell asleep." He grinned at his wife. "You know what story she asked me to tell her tonight?"

"What."

"How we met," he said.

She smirked. "Did you get all the details right?"

"Don't know. You can ask her in the morning," he said.

Ayanna chuckled at that. "I'm just gonna take a shower," she said as she made her way back to their room.

"Okay." Once his wife was gone he decided to continue on to the next room. Carefully, he opened the door until he could see his son.

The two year-old was huddled at the corner of his racecar bed, away from the wall that was made cold by the winter weather outside. The baby blue blanket that Bree had given to him was gingerly draped on his torso, minutely moving along with his every inhale and exhale. Adam couldn't help but grin as he recalled how hard his son played earlier. As he had predicted, the boy had completely wiped out. Though, honestly, he was wiped out, too.

As he thought of his two children, what his younger brother said came to mind. Hopefully they'd get to live the crazy, fun life that the four of them lived when they were younger. Adam wanted that for them, too. Minus the dangers, of course, because he wanted his daughter and his son as safe as they could be. But yes – they deserved lives filled with many memorable and happy things that maybe, one day, they would get to share with their children also.

Content with the warm and comfortable conditions of his children, Adam decided to turn in for the night. He walked to the opposite side of the hall, to the room closest to the stairs where the sound of water rushing into the shower echoed, and then pushed the door mostly close. He sat on their bed, set the alarm on his phone and waited for his wife. After an hour of talking about their day, they turned off the lampshades on their desks then went to sleep.

 _ **END.**_

* * *

 _Ladies, please don't think I was ignoring your reviews. They were very much appreciated! Was just trying out this one format that I've seen around. :) Susz, LRW, EmeraldTulip - I will send you guys correspondences soon. Thank you for reading!_

 _Many thanks to Stardust16, too, for issuing this challenge and granting an extension. It turned into a colossal mini-novel. Sorry! It was so much fun, though. Thanks!_


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